by Ember Casey
When we reach my apartment, Mick glances at us.
“Maybe I should let you watch that by yourselves,” he says. “I’ll go get the laptop.”
As he disappears into the bedroom, I turn to Sophia. Her face is paler than usual, and though I can tell she’s trying to hide it, I can see the worry in her eyes. I suspect she’s asking herself the same questions I am—If this hacker sent the video to Mick, who else did they send it to? And what do they want? Are they simply trying to make our lives miserable, or should we expect blackmail or threats? Or is this all just a game to them? Something they did for shits and giggles?
I don’t want to think about all of that right now. So I do what I do when I’m uncomfortable—I crack a joke.
“At least we know it was good sex,” I say as Sophia pulls up the video. “I mean, can you imagine how fucking awkward and embarrassing it would be if we knew we’d be watching ourselves fumbling around like a couple of clumsy moaning idiots?”
For a full minute, Sophia stares at me as if I’ve just insulted her dead mother or something. And then, suddenly, she laughs.
She laughs until her eyes are watering. Until she can hardly seem to catch her breath. She laughs for so long I start to get worried again, and Mick even sticks his head out of the bedroom with a confused look on his face. I gesture to him to leave us alone for a little longer.
Finally, her laughter slows. She flicks a tear from the corner of her eye.
“Thank you,” she says breathlessly. “I needed that.” She holds up the phone, her finger over the pause button. Right now, frozen on this screen, all you can see are a couple of unidentifiable flesh-colored shapes, but I know it gets worse.
“Are you ready?” she asks me.
I nod. “Let’s do this.”
Sophia
My stomach is sick as the video begins to play. Part of me thinks maybe Pax did do this—he did only want publicity from this quasi-relationship after all.
I can’t stand to watch another second, and after only a few moments, I reach for the phone and stop the video.
“We were just getting to the good part, though.” Pax grins and slides an arm around my waist. “And I have to say, you look really beautiful in it.”
I groan. “This cannot go further than this room—”
“It already has.” He shrugs. “It’s not that big a deal. Everyone’s putting out a sex tape these days. The publicity only lasts a little while, but this might be perfect timing.”
“So you did do this?” I pull away from him. “You made this tape?”
He shakes his head, sliding his finger across the phone to exit the video. “Nope. But it’s not the worst idea. And you have to admit, it was pretty great.”
What seemed so funny a moment ago is now more like a nightmare. My family is going to murder me. Victoria will probably do worse. The only thing I had to do was stay out of the spotlight—she’ll have a hard time ignoring this if it should get out.
I turn to look at Pax. “We have to do something to keep this from going public. Anything.”
“Well, there’s not much we can do. Whoever hacked my computer—”
“You should have known better. You should have…” Emotion fills my voice—it isn’t like me to cry, but this… This is almost more than I can handle.
Pax stands, pulling my hands into his. “It’s going to be okay. You can…you can tell everyone it isn’t you. You can deny that you ever spent the night here.”
“Plenty of people have seen me with you, though.” I let out a long breath, trying to push my emotions away. “It’ll be too much to deny.”
“The video is grainy—the webcam on my computer sucks.” He smiles. “And who knows how long the person who hacked me has been doing this? He probably has dozens of videos. It isn’t as though…” His voice trails off, and he frowns.
“Yes.” I pull my hands from his. “It isn’t as though you don’t sleep with a different woman each night. I know. You’ve been quite clear about it.” I take a step away from him, backing toward the door.
There’s really only one thing I can do now. I need to leave Los Angeles. I need to go back to Montovia and hide in the palace under the protection of my family—at least until the almost guaranteed news about this dies down. Perhaps my brother Leopold will have some advice for me. I don’t think he’s ever had a sex tape released, but he survived being photographed nude when he and Elle were first together.
And Victoria… As much as she’ll be angry with me, she’ll know what I should do to counter this. I’m sure she’s reported on much worse things. She’ll know what can be done to avoid the press until things calm down again, and maybe she’ll even know how long I can expect to have to hide.
I take another step backward. “I…I need to be going.”
“Where are you going to go?” Pax’s eyebrows draw together. “Believe me, if this thing is already out in the wild, the last place you want to be is out on the street. Especially looking like that.” He gives me a seductive grin. “You should just stay.”
“I won’t…I won’t be out on the street. I…” I don’t really want to tell him a plane is already waiting for me at the airport, but I need to do whatever I can to get there. I take another backward step toward the door. “I…I just need to go—”
“I don’t think so.” Mick’s voice pierces the air behind me. He lets out a long sigh. “How long have you had this thing open on your desk?”
Pax frowns, glancing across the room at the bedroom door. “I don’t know. Since the last tour?”
“Shit.” Mick edges around me, setting the closed laptop onto the counter beside me. He turns to face Pax. “From what I can tell, there are at least a hundred videos on there. At least.” He shakes his head. “You’re a grown man. I can’t tell you what to do.”
So much color has drained from Pax’s face that he looks like he might pass out. “A hundred? You’re sure?”
Mick nods. “At least. Like I said, I wouldn’t tell you what to do. But that…” He motions with his head toward the computer. “That was pretty dumb.”
“Who? Who did it?” Pax takes a step toward the desk, reaching for the computer.
Mick grabs him by the arm. “I don’t know. I’ll contact the police and see if they can do anything to find out. But it looks like whoever did this was waiting for you to…” He glances over at me. “I’m sorry. But it looks like they were waiting for him to fuck someone recognizable.”
Bile rises in my throat, and I’m sure I’m going to vomit.
“I’ll pay. Whatever they want for it.” Pax takes another step toward the counter, as though grabbing the laptop is going to do anything about the videos that are already out there somewhere.
Mick shakes his head. “I don’t think so.” His gaze slides between the two of us. “I just got a text from a publicist friend. Said the tape’s already been sold to one of the big porn sites.”
“Then I’ll buy it from them. I’ll—”
“I can help, too,” I interrupt. “And my family…they’ll hate me for a time, but they’ll do whatever is necessary—”
“I don’t think you two understand.” Mick looks between the two of us as though he’s watching a tennis match. “It’s too late. It’s already out there. And people all over the world are watching it as we speak or will be within the next few hours.” He closes his eyes for a second before he opens them again, shaking his head. “It’ll be good publicity for us—no one judges a guy for putting out a sex tape.” He looks over at me. “But for you… Pax Pounds the Perfect Princess.” He shakes his head again. “It’ll take some time for you to get on the other side of this.”
Pax
I’ve been in a state of shock since Mick first showed me the video, but this just cements it. The video is out there. On a porn site. My dilemma is suddenly sinking in, finally hitting home.
And I’m pissed.
Some fucker hacked into my computer. Spied on me. Released my private business
into the world. Yeah, the publicity might be great for the new album, but I don’t give a fuck. This is not how I want to be famous. I want to be famous because I make incredible music, not because the entire world has seen my dick. Fuck, I bet there are some people out there who will even think that I did this, solely to get people talking about me, as if I don’t have any confidence in my own fucking talent.
But that’s not the only reason this is upsetting me so much. There are things in my past that the world can never know—things that would destroy me if they ever got out. There’s nothing on my computer about any of it, of course, but this invasion of my privacy still reminds me that my past will never be far away. I might hint at the truth in my songs, let the shadows play in the light, but I’m still in control of the message to the world. Right now, though, I realize how little control I actually have.
My blood is pumping through me, fueling my rage. I’m going to find whoever did this, whatever it takes. Fuck anyone who tries to screw me over. I don’t want this shit out there in the world where anyone could see it. Where my family could see it…
God, I hadn’t even thought of that. My mom is technologically challenged, but if this news breaks the way I’m afraid it will, there’s no way she won’t catch wind of it. And my sisters…fuck. There’s no escaping that humiliation.
Then I remember, with a start, that I’m not the only one who’s going to be dealing with the consequences. Sophia’s got a family, too. And subjects. And at least my reputation is partially built on being a bit of a player—she doesn’t have that luxury.
She’s still incredibly pale, and the usual mischievous gleam in her eyes has been replaced by something distant, almost fearful.
I feel the sudden urge to pull her into my arms, to hold her close and promise her that everything will be all right, that I’ll find the fucker who did this and beat him to a pulp. Suddenly, looking at her, my own fate doesn’t seem that important—I can see in her expression what this is doing to her, and it makes my chest ache. Mick is right—she’ll be the one judged for this. She’ll be the one mocked and insulted, the one who get all sorts of lewd comments posted about her on every corner of the internet. It will happen, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop it.
And that makes me want to put my fist through the wall.
There’s only been one time in my life that I’ve felt this protective of someone who wasn’t a member of my immediate family, and that realization is unsettling. But God, do I want to protect her from this—I want to guard her from whatever happens next, even though the effort will be completely useless.
Suddenly, Sophia’s phone rings, making me jump. She goes to answer it reflexively, then she seems to think better of it. After four rings, it goes silent again.
“What are our options?” I ask. “How do we stop whoever did this?”
“We can’t stop whoever did this. That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Mick says. “We leave it to the police and to whatever investigators we decide to hire, but there’s not much you or I can do, not unless the bastards contact us with a deal or something. What we can do—and must do—is damage control. Get ahead of the story. Spin it the way we want.”
Sophia’s phone rings again, but she still doesn’t answer. I notice her switch it into silent mode, though, before ignoring it again.
“So it’s the publicity angle or nothing,” Sophia says, clearly unhappy about this.
Mick shrugs. “I’m not sure what other option we’ve got.”
“Looks like these mysterious hackers, whoever they are, played right into your plans,” Sophia says. “You get your public romance after all.”
“Now wait a minute,” Mick says. “Are you accusing me of being behind this? If this had been my plan, it wouldn’t have been this sloppy, believe me. There are better ways of—”
“Look, can we just stop arguing for five minutes?” I cut in. “I think we can all agree that none of us wanted this to happen, but it has, and now we have to deal with it.” My eyes fall on Sophia again, and once more I have to fight the urge to pull her protectively into my arms. I’m not sure she’d respond very well to that right now. “There has to be some way to minimize the damage here.”
Before anyone can respond, there’s a loud rap on the door, making all three of us start.
“You expecting someone?” Mick says, eyebrow raised.
“Hell no.” I don’t know anyone who would show up here unannounced except maybe my bandmates, but there’s no way in hell any of them are up this early.
“Could it be a reporter?” Sophia asks.
I shake my head. “Wouldn’t make it past the concierge without being arrested. They know better than to try.” At least they did before—but with a sex tape in the mix, who knows what the hell one of them might do to get a story?
The knock sounds again, harder this time.
“Fuck this,” I mutter, striding toward the door. I don’t care who it is—I won’t be harassed like this. And I’m feeling the need to punch someone right now.
I throw open the door, and I find myself facing a tall young man I don’t recognize.
He’s definitely not a reporter, though. I can tell that immediately. He’s wearing strangely formal clothes that make him stand out like a sore thumb—definitely not something one of the paparazzi would wear—and he carries himself like he’s the fucking king of England or something.
“Hello,” he says stiffly, in an accent I immediately recognize. “I’m here to retrieve Sophia.”
Sophia
“Who the fuck are you?” The edge in Pax’s voice is so sharp I can’t help but be curious about who it is that’s rung the bell.
I tiptoe to where I can see, peeking around the corner.
Immediately, I let out a long breath of relief. “Nicholas.” I hurry over to him, throwing my arms around the youngest of my four older brothers.
He gives me a tentative hug before he pulls away, taking a step into the apartment. Nicholas looks me up and down, frowning. His voice is grim. “You should put on some clothes.” I swear, when he talks like that, he sounds almost exactly like Andrew.
Pax slams the door. His hands ball into fists at his sides as he cocks his head at us. “Boyfriend?”
Nicholas gives him an icy glare. “Brother.”
The tension in Pax’s body releases for a moment before his jaw tightens again. “Great.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Nicholas gives me a slight shake of his head. “What were you thinking?”
“I suppose I wasn’t.” I’m suddenly feeling quite exposed in my slip of a dress. It’s a shame I didn’t think to bring any other clothes with me. I fold my arms over my chest, trying to cover myself as best as I can. “I just…I just wanted to have a bit of fun. You can’t fault a person for that.”
Nicholas merely shakes his head before he turns his gaze to Pax. “And what are your intentions?”
“My…intentions?” The color drains from Pax’s face. “I don’t have any intentions.”
“You made a sex tape with my sister. Surely you had something in mind.” Nicholas arches a brow.
“I…” Pax gulps. “I guess I was doing the same thing your sister was. Having a little fun.”
Nicholas grunts, turning his gaze back to mine. “When I got on the plane last night, I was only supposed to come and make sure you were all right. Andrew was concerned when you wouldn’t take his calls, and Victoria didn’t know where you’d gone.”
Something twists in my stomach. “I didn’t mean to make anyone worry. If you would just trust me—”
“Trust you?” The anger in my brother’s expression melts away after a moment, and I can see the pity beneath it. “Sophia, it isn’t about trust. It’s about…” He lets out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair. “God, I sound just like Andrew, don’t I?”
More than a little, I think. But there is no way I would ever tell him that. “I didn’t do anything one of you wouldn’t have done. Leopold�
��”
“Okay, let’s just stop this right here.” Nicholas interrupts me again with a shake of his head. “I wouldn’t have done something like this. And as far as I know, Leopold was never on a sex tape. Not one that’s been made so…” His gaze shifts to Pax. “Public.”
“So…did you come here with a solution?” Pax gives my brother a look that can only be described as disgust. “Or did you just come here to give us shit about it?”
“I came here to fetch my sister.” Nicholas glances over at me. “I didn’t know about the tape until we were well en route.”
“I suppose…” I look between my brother and Pax. “I suppose I should be going then.”
“Like hell you will.” Pax walks over to me, sliding an arm around my waist. “We’ll deal with it together. We’ll…” His grip on me tightens slightly. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Together?” Nicholas looks between Pax and me. “So you’re a couple now? Officially?”
Pax audibly gulps. “I wouldn’t say officially…” He looks down at me. “But Sophia agreed to go on tour with me next week. I’d say…” He looks back up at my brother. “I’d say that’s close enough to official.”
“I never…” Wait, I didn’t agree to go on tour with him, did I? It was less than an hour ago that he asked me—and I swear it feels like it was weeks ago. It almost feels as though time is slipping through my fingers.
Do I even want to go on tour with Pax and his band? While the idea is exciting, part of me knows it will be far less glamorous than it sounds. Riding on a tour bus all day with Pax…
